Most fire apparatus have a shore line to not only keep the batteries maintained, but also supply power to on-board computers, gas monitors, and the like, assuring that they're charged and ready to go on arrival.

Kussmaul is one of the most popular suppliers of the pieces & parts for systems like you mention.

Thanks - that's helpful. How important is it to trickle charge those batteries when the truck is not in use? Should I expect it to start up after weeks of storage without trickle charging?

Is the rig now privately owned, for pleasure purposes? If so, it isnt necessary to keep it plugged in at all times. As a previous poster stated, the purpose of the plugs is to mainly keep on-board equipment charged (handlights, gas meters, laptops, portable radios, etc.) Plugging the truck in trickle-charges the main batteries which then trickle-charge the small stuff. If these items are not a concern for you as you are not using the rig for emergency responses, then you dont need to. Treat the truck like any other truck- with proper routine preventive maintenance and regular excercise all systems will perform as expected with little trouble.

By the way, it sounds like you have no experience around the fire service or with fire apparatus- where are you located- does the temperature fall below freezing, and if so, is the truck stored indoors in a heated environment, and if not, has the pump/piping/tank been weatherized to prevent freezing damage?

You raise a great point - the truck is in Montana and it is not in a heated garage. Freezing is a real concern. Can you point me towards winterization instructions?

As I am sure the temperatures in Montana have been falling well below freezing for quite a while now, I certainly hope the pump, tank and all piping and drains have been emptied of all water or else you may soon discover that parts of or perhaps your entire pump have been destryed by expansion of freezing water. It is absolutely critical that you get the truck to a heated garage and get some fans circulating warm air into the pump compartment ASAP for a period of time- I would say at LEAST 8-10 hours in order to allow it to warm up. Then pull it outside (in case if there is a lot of water in the system) and open ALL of the valves- drains, discharges, EVERYTHING and let them do their thing for 10 minutes (if you have any pre-connected handlines or booster hoses, you need to disconnect these at their main connections or open booster line nozzles). You are not done yet. Now you need to back it into the warm garage, and finish the job. See if anyone around you has a discharge cap that has been tapped out to receive an air chuck. Close all the valves back up, and place the air chuck cap onto a discharge. Open that valve. Put about 10PSI of air into the pump (no more or you could do damage) and then slowly open each and every valve and let air blow out any remaining residual water. This is a time-consuming process but needs to be done. It is imperitive that you blow the air through each and every drain valve, discharge port/hose connection so that any residual water in these lines can be blown out.

Other people may tell you to just disregard the above information and to just dump a bunch of RV anti-freeze into the pump. While this may work to protect the main pump's impeller cavity and perhaps some of the volutes and other cavities in the pump, the anti freeze will not distribute throughout the entire system and protect areas that may contain standing water. I know many people that have damaged their pumps by not properly winterizing.

As you have no experience with fire apparatus, I strongly encourage you to join SPAAMFAA (the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motorzed Fire Apparatus in America.) We are tens of thousands of members strong with hundreds of chapters all over the United States and with a few chapters and many members abroad as well. If you are on Facebook, there are many facebook pages dedicated to antique apparatus as well with discussions of maintenance and care procedures. If you are on FB, send me a private message through here, and I will give you my name so that you can friend me, myself and my minions can help you with your rig and guide you through almost any problems.

As I am sure the temperatures in Montana have been falling well below freezing for quite a while now, I certainly hope the pump, tank and all piping and drains have been emptied of all water or else you may soon discover that parts of or perhaps your entire pump have been destryed by expansion of freezing water. It is absolutely critical that you get the truck to a heated garage and get some fans circulating warm air into the pump compartment ASAP for a period of time- I would say at LEAST 8-10 hours in order to allow it to warm up. Then pull it outside (in case if there is a lot of water in the system) and open ALL of the valves- drains, discharges, EVERYTHING and let them do their thing for 10 minutes (if you have any pre-connected handlines or booster hoses, you need to disconnect these at their main connections or open booster line nozzles). You are not done yet. Now you need to back it into the warm garage, and finish the job. See if anyone around you has a discharge cap that has been tapped out to receive an air chuck. Close all the valves back up, and place the air chuck cap onto a discharge. Open that valve. Put about 10PSI of air into the pump (no more or you could do damage) and then slowly open each and every valve and let air blow out any remaining residual water. This is a time-consuming process but needs to be done. It is imperitive that you blow the air through each and every drain valve, discharge port/hose connection so that any residual water in these lines can be blown out.

Other people may tell you to just disregard the above information and to just dump a bunch of RV anti-freeze into the pump. While this may work to protect the main pump's impeller cavity and perhaps some of the volutes and other cavities in the pump, the anti freeze will not distribute throughout the entire system and protect areas that may contain standing water. I know many people that have damaged their pumps by not properly winterizing.

As you have no experience with fire apparatus, I strongly encourage you to join SPAAMFAA (the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motorzed Fire Apparatus in America.) We are tens of thousands of members strong with hundreds of chapters all over the United States and with a few chapters and many members abroad as well. If you are on Facebook, there are many facebook pages dedicated to antique apparatus as well with discussions of maintenance and care procedures. If you are on FB, send me a private message through here, and I will give you my name so that you can friend me, myself and my minions can help you with your rig and guide you through almost any problems.